Charlottesville

The NRAO facilities in Charlottesville, Virginia (VA) function as the Headquarters for the entire Observatory. The NRAO has two physical locations in Charlottesville.

The Director's Office, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) construction project, the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC), the NRAO central administrative offices, and the main NRAO Research Library are located in Charlottesville, Virginia, not far from the Department of Astronomy on the grounds of the University of Virginia. This facility underwent a major renovation and addition that was completed in 2004. The NAASC and the NRAO Research Library were the primary beneficiaries of this expansion.

The NRAO Technology Center (NTC) is located nearby and occupies two buildings that are leased from a commercial landlord. The NTC includes the Central Development Laboratory (CDL) and the ALMA Integration Center. The CDL develops and builds key components for NRAO telecopes, and for telescopes and research equipment commissioned by universities and other research institutions around the world. The ALMA Integration Center designs, prototypes, and fabricates key ALMA electronic components, including Front Ends, Back Ends, Local Oscillators, and the ALMA Correlator.